After the postponement of their game against Messiah College on Wednesday due to last week's events in New York and Washington, the Women's Soccer team returned to Homewood Field for a Saturday matinee against Centennial Conference competitor, Haverford.
The Lady Jays defeated Haverford 1-0, their second Centennial Conference win of the year.
Seeking revenge for last year's 2-0 road loss to the Fords, the Blue Jays opened the game in an aggressive fashion, continuously threatening the tough Haverford defense with an offensive pressure that the 2001 squad has shown all year.
Both defensive units played a stellar first half, but it was Hopkins who finally found a hole to capitalize upon. In the 15th minute of the game, freshman forward Jen Baldwin managed a breakaway up field and took a shot from the left side that sailed past the goalkeeper and into the back of the Haverford net. Baldwin's goal was her fourth of the season and placed her at the top of the team statistics book with 11 points.
After the only goal of the game, the Blue Jay defense took control, allowing only four shots on goalie Shannon O'Malley, who recorded her second shutout of the year, as well as the Blue Jays' record tying seven consecutive shutout dating back from last season.
In regard to her impact on the tough battle with Haverford, Baldwin acknowledged, "The final score was not indicative of the game at all. Although Haverford was the best opponent we've seen so far, we had many good opportunities and fortunately mine just happened to go in."
On Monday, the Blue Jays swung back into action against nearby College of Notre Dame, looking to improve their winning streak to 16 and their season record to 5-0. The Hopkins offense surged early on, scoring three goals in the first half. Baldwin played an important role once again as she tallied the opening goal of the game with an unassisted shot past the Gator goalie. Soon thereafter, off a free kick, freshman defender Kathleen Turley upped Hopkins to a 2-0 lead with her first career goal.
The Blue Jay offense refused to let up as freshman midfielder Sandra Lebo played a nicely placed corner kick to sophomore midfielder Leah Blom who one-timed it into the Gator goal.
At the half, the Blue Jays enjoyed a 3-0 advantage over Notre Dame and were well on their way to an eighth consecutive shutout, dating back to last season.
In the 50th minute of the game sophomore midfielder Annie Colabella closed out Blue Jays scoring on the day with a shot assisted by Baldwin and senior forward Kacey Foster.
Once again, the Blue Jay defense was stellar, allowing only four shots opposed to the 22 taken by Hopkins. The shutout was recorded by sophomore goalie Annie Adamczyk, her second of the season.
Apparently the agony of defeat hit the Notre Dame players hard as there were allegations of physical play and even certain punching incidents.
In their next game, against Dickinson College, the teams winning streak was prematurely ended when the game went to a 0-0 tie after two overtimes.
The Blue Jays maintained their undefeated streak and after six games the team has still not allowed a goal.
Last season the Red Devils defeated the Blue Jays in a hotly contested 2-1 overtime win. During one controversial play goalie Shannon O'Malley earned a save on a penalty kick. The referees decided that the only way she could have saved the shot was if she left the line early, however, they apparently did not have visual proof. This incident left the team hungry for revenge.
Wednesday, O'Malley had another game saver when she managed to stop a Dickinson penalty kick.
The Lady Jays retained ball possession for most of the game and had far more shots on goal than the Dickinson team.
The team itself was having trouble scoring on goal. They played most of the game using a kick and run strategy. The halfbacks and fullbacks would boot the ball towards the forward. The passing game was not up to their usual standards.
"We really wanted to get back at them for last year but we just could not get the ball into the back of the net," said Kacey Foster.
After the game the team was visibly upset over tying the game. On the other hand, the Dickinson team was celebrating their surprising tie.
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